Makeover Parties Sweep Hallandale

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a big hit on national television, and Hallandale Beach officials want to replicate the idea on a local level, one city block at a time.

To encourage residents to renovate their homes, the city's redevelopment office began a program called "Model Block." The redevelopment office tracks the path the city's Public Works Department is taking.

Once it knows where public works workers will be fixing and/or cleaning streets and doing other work on a given block, the city organizes a party for residents to persuade them to fix up their properties, said Angela Bauldree, community redevelopment coordinator

"We do it to improve the aesthetics of the city," Bauldree said. "It's not enough just to fix a sidewalk here and there. We want homes to look good, too."

The city offers to take on exterior eyesores, such as landscaping, for free. The city also promotes discount loans for home repairs. The Model Block program has already been in a few neighborhoods in the northwest and southwest parts of the city.

The next Model Block party is set for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the 700 block of Eighth Avenue. City officials, police and fire department personnel will be there, along with food and a festive and informative environment, Bauldree said.

The city has helped about 900 homeowners and 30 business owners fix their properties since the program started last year.

Ivilisse Crowley, 47, used the program for a makeover of her driveway in April, when the Model Block program came through her street. Her driveway, she said, had holes and two ficus trees that blocked much of the way. She used a low-interest $7,000 loan to renovate the driveway.

"I also used some of that money to paint parts of the house," Crowley said. "The house looks good. People are asking me how I did it. It's great."

Crowley is repaying the city $100 every four months.

"I could not have afforded a loan like this otherwise," she said.

For more information, call 954-457-1377.

Edgar Sandoval can be reached at esandoval@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7910.